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MHKBB posted a photo:
SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen
Architect: Arne Jacobsen
Camera: Hasselblad 503CW
Lens: Zeiss Planar T* 2.8/80 C
Film: Ilford XP2 super
Marisa Aragón Ware grew up wandering through the Rocky Mountain forests of Colorado, where she reveled in nature’s diversity. There, she learned about woodland wildflowers, fungi, birds, and more with the help of her dad, who is a scientist. Over time, her fascination with organic forms made its way into an evolving art practice.
Based in Boulder, Ware continues to spend time in the woods, taking inspiration from flora and fauna alike. Through a meticulous process of cutting and scoring paper, she creates delicate curves to imitate the volume of leaves or bones and defines feathers, insect wings, and petals with precise veins and edges.

Paper became Ware’s medium of choice because she finds beauty and awe in a material we use so often in daily life that we hardly give it a second thought. “Paper is deeply familiar—everyone has handled it, written grocery lists on it, folded it, torn it, discarded it,” she tells Colossal. “Because it’s such an everyday material, there’s something especially powerful about transforming it into something unexpected.”
Biodiversity and ecosystem interdependence are themes running throughout Ware’s work, and she’s especially interested in the theory of biophilia. The hypothesis posits that humans inherently seek connections with nature on multiple levels. “Our need for nature extends far beyond physical survival; it also nourishes imagination, spirituality, and our sense of meaning,” Ware says. “Through my sculptures, I hope to create moments of wonder that help viewers reconnect with that ancient relationship and perhaps feel more compelled to protect it.”
Precision and control are key in Ware’s practice, but she has recently been privileging experimentation and a loosening-up of her approach. “I’ve been asking myself what may have been lost in the process of becoming technically skilled and how I can return to a beginner’s mindset without abandoning the abilities I’ve spent decades developing,” she says. “That questioning has led me to incorporate new processes and materials, including cyanotypes, allowing myself to work in ways that are less controlled, more intuitive, and more exploratory.”
Ware’s work is included in Common Waters at Arch Enemy Arts, which opens on June 5. See more on Ware’s Instagram. You might also enjoy Manabu Kosaka’s hyperrealistic paper sculptures of retro technology.








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Given the heat generated during firing, it’s rare to see paper incorporated into a ceramics practice. For Seoul-based artist Jongjin Park, though, the two go hand-in-hand.
Park recently won the 2026 Loewe Craft Prize, a prestigious annual award celebrating innovative makers, for his striking sculpture “Strata of Illusion.” A rectangular shape with an open top and slouching side, the piece features countless folded layers made from paper towels dipped in watered-down ceramic slip.

Inspired by the distinctive, rippled textures and minuscule lines within stacks of paper, Park “wanted to break through the traditional boundaries and stereotypes inherent in ceramics as a medium,” he tells Colossal. “To do this, I began experimenting with alternative materials other than clay, searching for a meaningful intersection.”
Standard paper towels were a natural fit, but they didn’t come without challenges. “Because the process required firing massive amounts of paper, I had to overcome both technical and ethical hurdles regarding the combustion and disappearance of the paper,” he says. “I strictly use recycled paper made from repurposed milk cartons, and technically, I utilize specialized kilns equipped with high chimneys to manage the exhaust.”
There were also conceptual challenges that Park addressed through reframing how he thought about the material, particularly its malleability when drenched and slippery. “In my practice, this pre-fired state is not viewed as ‘fragile’—the way traditional unfired ceramics are commonly perceived—but rather redefined as a ‘flexible’ state where patterns, forms, and colors can be actively manipulated,” he shares, adding that finding the balance between strength and elasticity was the most difficult part of the experimental process.
Layers, for Park, are both apt metaphors for the passage of time and a material illusion. “When hundreds or thousands of these sheets are stacked together, they withstand the intense heat of the kiln and acquire a solid, monumental permanence, akin to natural rock formations or geological strata,” he says. “I am deeply drawn to this visual and conceptual tension, where seemingly opposing values—thinness and density, flexibility and rigidity—coexist harmoniously within a single structure.”
In addition to his studio practice, Park is a professor in Craft & Collectible Design at Seoul Women’s University. Peek into his process in this video, and find more of his work on Instagram.






Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Jongjin Park Layers Slip-Soaked Paper into Patchwork Sculptures appeared first on Colossal.
stan.jernigan has added a photo to the pool:
I took this photo of an “Island and Oyster Cultivations Rafts” with my iPhone 17 Pro Max while cruising into Hiroshima, Japan. The platforms have the oysters suspended from cedar or bamboo rafts or long lines. This setup allows the oysters to stay in nutrient-rich water columns and avoid seafloor contaminants…
stan.jernigan has added a photo to the pool:
I took this photo of the Cherry Blossoms along the “Osaka Castle Moat” with my iPhone 17 Pro Max while visiting Osaka, Japan. I love the flowering trees and the natural beauty they create…

Opa vertelt maar toen wij 14 waren blowden we ook weleens mee in het park, en daarna kregen we dan heel hard de slappe lach of werden ontiegelijk paranoïde. Wat we heel nadrukkelijk niet deden: snuiven, althans, die ene rare jongen achterin de klas wel, maar dat was lijm en hij had geen vrienden. Er was wel een dealer, maar dat was eigenlijk gewoon een jongen die er ouder uitzag en dus wiet of hasj meekreeg uit de coffeeshop.
Dat er sindsdien het een en ander veranderd is blijkt uit Nachtkinderen, de nieuwe driedelige docuserie van vriendin van de show Sahar Meradji. Die maakt sowieso altijd geweldig spul - eerder volgde ze al op indrukwekkende en indringende wijze wokisten, extreemrechtse gekken, hoeren, junkies, en Nederlandse moslims, nu komen daar dus tieners die keta, 3-mmc of ander obscuur spul gebruiken bij. Afijn, wat ons betreft solliciteert Meradji met Nachtkinderen nadrukkelijk naar de eretitel beste documentairemaker van Nederland, want christus te paard wat een spul is dit. Het leidt tot allerlei talkshowdiscussies over hoe wijdverbreid dit fenomeen nou is, en dat is logisch en goed, maar als je het daadwerkelijk zit te kijken, is dat helemaal niet zo relevant - het is erg genoeg dát dit fenomeen er is.
Nu kijkbaar op Videoland - was een uitstekende serie geweest voor de NPO, maar die zaten waarschijnlijk te slapen, of hadden te weinig budget omdat het leger aan middenmanagers ook betaald moet worden.
Ho, en wellicht ten overvloede, maar doe toch maar geen drugs, kinders.

Ja dat is dan een probleem he! Als je jarenlang alleen maar bezig bent geweest met ruziemaken en het belasteren en het neerhalen van anderen komt er een dag waarop de politieke ballon, die soms gevuld moet worden met compromissen, knapt in je snuit. Als je jarenlang als een onsympathieke olifant door de porseleinkast raust, iedereen tegen je in het harnas jaagt, een kwalijke & vuige drankroddel over een bobo van een andere partij de wereld in helpt en dat extreem huichelachtig in de schoenen van een 'medewerker' probeert te schuiven, de leider van een andere partij naait, een bizarre aanval plaatst op een kopstuk van een andere partij waarvoor je zelfs een standje hebt gekregen van je eigen Kamervoorzitter, je als minister smerige politieke spelletjes speelde door te beloven dat er geen 19 meloen naar de Hamas-loverboys van UNRWA zou gaan om dan lekker pûh stiekem toch 19 meloen naar de Hamas-loverboys van UNRWA te peren, en daarop toch alleen / vooral de ontstane ophef te betreuren, en vrijwel iedereen van links tot rechts je daardoor bestempelt als enorm arrogant, of als mager mannetje, of als draaikont, terwijl je in een vlaag van zelfbevlekking nog een positief kwakje doet over je EIGEN Wikipedia: dat gaat het een keertje mis. NU DUS!